Heartbeats
by Pieces Of Hope
Summary: The softest sound, the true sound of life that beats through you and keeps you living, keeps you real. On one night when sleep won't come to Aang he listens to the sound of Katara's beating heart, only to hear another begin. Why didn't she tell him...?


_This idea came to me while I was working, begging for me to pour it out onto paper...or a keyboard…it took two whole hours without stopping (From two am to four am) but I simply adore it! Yey for actually liking something I worked on! But I don't see this event truly, actually happening to them…just a floating thought…so please enjoy…_

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**Heartbeats**

They sat in a bedroom together in complete silence. Katara's eyes were closed as she rested, utterly wide awake and waiting for Aang to speak. She was tired and was unwilling to talk herself and yet inwardly was dying to hear him speak to her.

When Aang said nothing she sat up slightly and looked at him. He had a strange smile on his face as he looked towards the ground, his eyes unfocused.

"Do you remember that woman we met today?" Katara suddenly said, hoping to take that eccentric look off of Aang's face. She moved closer towards him, wrapping her arms around his form from behind and placing her lips on his neck. He turned slightly as if to listen and she moved, letting her head rest on his back.

"The woman," She said again. "Do you remember her?" They actually had met quite a few people that day, so she hoped that his memory would recall the one hers did…the one that stood out.

Aang turned and she moved her head to meet his glace. He nodded at her question. She smiled, finding pride that he knew her so well. He slightly arched an eyebrow as if to ask: What about her?

Katara looked to the ceiling as she felt her voice leave her for a moment. She felt Aang's shoulders stiffen in her silence and she gently moved her hands to them, massaging the tension away.

"Did you see her? She was so lovely…glowing…like she was with…" Katara paused on the words and glanced down for a moment. "Like she was with child…" She finished with an unnecessary plastic smile. Aang was not looking at her.

"She wasn't…" Aang told her matter-of-factly. He didn't turn to face her; he didn't give her his full-tooth grin. Even as her hands dropped away from his shoulders he didn't look at her.

"How…how do you know Aang? You didn't ask her did you?" Katara felt sharpness in her voice she did not mean to interject into the conversation. She dramatically gripped her throat only to release it seconds later. She didn't move away from him though something inwardly was giving her the motion to pull back she ignored it.

"I could only hear one set of heartbeats."

Katara's eyes widened as she felt herself draw back despite her will not to. She let her mind wrap wildly around the idea. It wasn't so preposterous…actually she should have expected it; maybe she even knew he could do it but didn't see any propose in remembering it…until now.

"Of course you knew that…" He told her as if reading her thoughts, in a voice that was nostalgic and new at the same time. "Toph had trained me to hear the smallest vibrations from the earth…to train my ears to hear as much as they possible could. Of course," It seemed like he was rambling now. "She can do it so much better than I can…the blindness and all aids her hearing in a way mine can never reach. Her sense of touch too is amazing…" He took a sharp breath in like something painful crawled inside him. Katara motioned for him but sat back again, he was talking of Toph to avoid a subject that was truly lingering on his mind…she waited for him to speak again.

"On some nights…when I can't sleep…I focus real hard and listen to your heartbeat…" He drifted off and turned towards her though his eyes were somewhere else in more ways than one. "That soft sound, the gentle rhythm of it reassures that you're here…that you're real…" He drifted off like he was finished speaking and Katara felt any words she wished to say to him stick and cling to her throat, trapped.

"And then…" he said, his eyes were downcast though his body now faced her completely. She wished to look into his eyes, to see if they were pained or enlightened. It was so hard to tell sometimes. When Aang was younger Katara could always tell how he was feeling no matter what the situation was. He would either let his emotions rampage or he would bottle them up until he felt better…and no matter how the problem passed she would always be there with a hug to help him move right along, knowing her embrace was something he loved.

"And then one night…" he started again, Katara watched him. His voice sounded hopeful, she thought. "As I was trying to get to sleep, as I was listening to the warm sound of your heart…I heard another one start…" Katara didn't gasp or widen her eyes. She sat completely still, nearly like stone as she waited for him to finish.

"At first I was confused…" He shrugged and she understood why, suddenly hearing another heart start out of nowhere, just suddenly begin... it would have been a scary circumstance no doubt. "I knew it wasn't any animal…no much to slow for that…it was so soft, so gentle…" She saw a soft smile touch his features but he tried to hide it from her, like he was pretending to be angry. She clenched her hands into fists and tried not to move, but was failing.

"…Why…" He suddenly said, looking up at her. Tears touched the corners of his eyes and she felt her heart drop.

"…Why what…" It wasn't even a question in return. It was a bitter statement she didn't wish to ask. All the words that had caught in her throat earlier and this is what she decided to say to him? She bit her lip in momentary self-hatred.

"Don't say that Katara!" He suddenly shouted, on his feet. He had used both the air and his own strong body to pull him up so quickly. She looked down at her lap, now refusing to meet his eyes. "Don't act like that when you know exactly what I'm talking about!" He sounded distressed. It was at this sound that fear started to claw its way into her belly. She sucked in breath as she waited for his next bellow. "Why couldn't you tell me...?" With these words his voice was fleeting and embittered but soon it changed, "I love you so much…" He breathed out, kneeling down, "Did you think I wouldn't accept it? Did you think I'd hate it? Hate you?" He gripped Katara's hands and at his touch she shuddered.

She tried to speak but only a broken sob escaped her mouth. She suddenly looked up at him, his stormy eyes so clear in her blurred vision. She could only make out his beautiful face, the face that still held the image of the boy she had fallen in love with…that had saved her world. She shakily moved one hand to it and felt his warm skin beneath her palm as he moved into her touch.

"Love, please talk to me…" Aang choked out. Moving one hand away from her lap he tried to stroke the flowing tears away but they continued to fall like rain, seemingly unending as they fell unsure when they would stop. She let out another sob as her hand left his face and placed it over her stomach.

"I'm-I am…" She said though in her mind it all sounded like shattered pieces of words. "S-s-sorry!" Had she even managed to get that word out? His eyes furrowed in confusion at her sudden apology. He wasn't looking for her to be sorry…he was looking for clarification.

"For what?" He asked sincerely, his voice warm and melodious now. It calmed her burning, sinking heart. She tried to remember when HE had been the one to calm HER emotions and not the other way around.

Finally the sobs had broken completely, her words free. "For…letting this happen…I was afraid! We-we aren't married yet and…and…you're the Avatar you should be married before you…and…" Her words, though flowing, were jumbled and confused in her mind. She tightened the hand over her stomach into a fist, letting her nails pinch the skin of her palm, hoping the pain would break the wall blocking her common thought.

She took a deep breath and looked back to her lap, her eyes careful to avoid anything striking or important. "You are so young…" She said it slowly, like she was clarifying the fact for herself. Though in actual years he was so much older then she was, in his body he never would be. "I didn't want to tie you down…you…you're only seventeen! I didn't want to be the wife…" She paused on the word, wife. She thought over it for a moment, loving and hating the word with the same intensity. "The wife that made the young Avatar have to slow down…"

He knew she wasn't finished, he looked down at their holding hands as he waited for her to let all her bottled up thoughts free.

"I could see it…people would ask for you at all those political meetings and they would have to explain that the Avatar is busy with family business…it seemed ridiculous to me! I couldn't be selfish and steal you away from the world like this. I was already being selfish by just having you be with me…now…I always understood that the world came before me…" She sighed, feeling hot tears slide down her cheeks. She quickly moved her hand to wipe them away and brought it back to where she had it set. "I was afraid that if I told you…you'd be so happy that you'd take me off to be married…you'd forget about your other responsibilities...your more important ones anyway."

"You were afraid that I'd be happy?" The way he said it sounded more like a mock than shock. "You're a strange one Katara of the Watertribe…"

She ignored his words and went on, "I felt like once you realized what I had done to you…tied you down, you'd resent me for it…you're the Avatar…the hero of the entire world! You shouldn't be married to…" But before she even could even finish the thought, his lips found hers, silencing her completely.

He pulled away and let his forehead rest on hers. "Thousands of Avatars before me have been married, had lovers, and had families…why can't I do it to?" He asked her in a startling way, it reminded her of old times so far away and yet at the same time not quite so.

"Because you're special…" Her logic was simple and impractical. He shook his head and ran his hand through her long, chocolate hair.

"I appreciate that Katara, I really do…but I still want what most normal people have." He mused as his smile changed into a toothy grin, forcing Katara to smile as well, even it was smaller and softer compared to his. His smile was contagious. "I wish you would have told me sooner…I probably would have just carried you off until we found someone who could marry us…but still…"

"You already knew…" She softly snapped and he winced, her words rang clear and sharp in his ears. "I should have known…one day you were so rough with me, passionate and using all your force and then the next day so gentle, even when you kissed me you were softer…"

"I did know," He wasn't going to argue that her logic was off, he did soften all of his movements when he discovered her secret, "…But it wasn't my news to tell. It was always yours…my mind kind of went a little crazy after that…finding the news out by myself wasn't very nice…" He mused to himself more than to her. She chuckled at his honesty as he pulled her to her feet, feeling weightless in his arms.

"Will she be an Airbender?" Aang wondered, changing the subject, as his fingers lightly traced over her stomach. Katara placed her own hand atop his and shook her head quickly.

"No, he will be a Waterbender." Katara stuck her tongue out cutely and winked. Aang blinked in surprise.

"You want a boy?"

She nodded and mused for a moment, "To see a little version of you running around would be more than perfect…" She laughed at her silly daydreams and he smiled warmly. "And you want a girl?" She asked in return, her voice curious.

"Yeah!" He widely grinned then moved closer towards her. "A beautiful girl with chocolate brown hair and bright blue eyes…just like her mother…" He whispered in her ear and it sent shivers of pleasure down her spine.

"Were you happy?" She asked suddenly, her words as light as floating feathers. "After you moved past the crazy I mean…when you found out I was going to have…your baby?" That was the first time she had said those words aloud, her heart thumped hard in her chest but she was proud.

He nodded and kissed the top of her head, "So happy which is why it made me angry when you wouldn't tell me…I couldn't understand why at all, and no Avatar dreams could help this little problem out." He laughed a little to himself, "Sometimes I'd check to make sure it was still there, that soft beat that went along with yours…such a good sound." Katara had moved her hands away from her center and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"So do you think you're ready?" She asked, her voice more playful and opened then before…to have this tremendous weight off her chest had transformed her back into the Katara of old.

"For…?" Aang replied to question with another. He was playing dumb… of course. He scratched the top of his top of his head, his eyes confused.

Katara laughed and shook her head, "To be a daddy!" She exclaimed the obvious.

"Woah, that's a scary word…" He muttered to himself and then nodded, "If I can protect the world…I hope to be able to protect this…" He motioned to her stomach and smiled a genuine, true Aang grin.

"This most important life…" She thought to herself and Aang shrugged.

"You and she are both the most important things to me…" He told her honesty, lifting her off the ground slightly so he wouldn't have to bend down to kiss her. She nudged his shoulder playfully and he pulled away.

"What'd I do?" He asked in an innocent tone.

"It's a he…" Katara jokingly hissed.

"For now…it's a draw…a wait and see." He kissed her cheek and set her down. She nodded and opened her arms for an embrace in which he immediately took, a love that never changed.

"_I guess we'll have to wait and see…" Katara whispered against his chest as Aang held on just a little bit tighter…_


End file.
